Giving A Little More: The Gripping Tale Behind Maroon 5\u2019s \u2018Hands All Over\u2019
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWith a fresh set of songs \u2013 and a storming, career-defining single \u2013 Maroon 5 reached for glory with their third album, \u2018Hands All Over.\u2019
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There\u2019s a universal irony that, sometimes, a surefire formula for crafting a hit project inexplicably yields lesser rewards. Maroon 5\u2019s collaboration with veteran rock producer Robert \u201cMutt\u201d Lange should have seen the group\u2019s third album, Hands All Over, become an instant hit. It ultimately took time, but a masterstroke duet would reward the group with its most famous work to date \u2013 and a fresh, powerful springboard for the future.
\nWith the relentless touring schedule for It Won\u2019t Be Soon Before Long finally winding down in 2009, thoughts turned to writing for the next album. Adam Levine was perhaps preparing for the fact that this next work might end up as Maroon 5\u2019s swansong, famously telling Rolling Stone magazine two years earlier that he thought the team might have one final album to go before the inevitable pull of solo projects got too strong.
\nBuy or stream Hands All Over.\u00a0
\n\t\t \nLange, of course, has worked with everyone from Def Leppard to Britney Spears, and is most celebrated for masterminding his former wife Shania Twain\u2019s record-shattering career. Intrigued by his interest in producing the band, Maroon 5 relocated to Lange\u2019s base, in Switzerland, for two months, but any thoughts that this would be a case of letting the veteran carry the weight of shaping the record were swiftly dispelled. Levine\u2019s collection of songs was stripped apart and rebuilt, with Lange pushing hard for the hooks and high-fidelity impact for which he is famous. As two strong songwriters sized each other up across the studio, the friendly but pressured atmosphere pushed both men hard. If at times it might have felt a touch challenging, it was all to the good of the record that was being created.
\nWhat emerged, on September 15, 2010, was Maroon 5\u2019s catchiest pop collection to date. The strident funk and rock hybrid tone of the previous album \u2013 already an evolution from the band\u2019s rockier debut \u2013 had been freshly illuminated by a high-energy pop sheen that drew references from Lange\u2019s 80s and 90s heyday, while remaining sharp and contemporary.
\nThe album\u2019s first single was \u201cMisery,\u201d a collaboration between Levine, guitarist Jesse Carmichael and long-time collaborator Sam Farrar, who was now increasingly working with the band. Hitting radio in June 2010, in advance of Hands All Over\u2019s release, the track received a critical thumbs-up and, alongside a video featuring another one of Maroon 5\u2019s provocative but tongue-in-cheek storylines, started its ascent up the charts. Its subsequent, inexplicable stalling outside the US Top 10 (at No.14) and a peak of No.30 in the UK seemed at odds with the song\u2019s obvious commercial direction. A later nomination at the following year\u2019s Grammys for Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With A Vocal would give the song the credit it deserved, but it set the Hands All Over campaign off on a shakier footing than had been expected.
\nHowever, reviews for the album were generally stronger than those that had initially greeted It Won\u2019t Be Soon Before Long. It was as if the critics were finally warming up to Maroon 5\u2019s potent songwriting power. The light funk shuffler \u201cGive A Little More\u201d was chosen as the set\u2019s next single, and the stripped-back performance video appeared to suggest a simpler, back-to-basics approach. Yet, when Hands All Over hit the shops, it peaked at No.2 in the charts, trailing the chart-topping success of its predecessor.
\nNone of this seemed right \u2013 Hands All Over was arguably the band\u2019s strongest album to date, with an impressive range of material. \u201cHow,\u201d for example, is one of the best ballads the band has ever recorded, with flavors of AOR giants Toto permeating its persuasive melody. \u201cI Can\u2019t Lie\u201d can pass as something from the genius songbook of Billy Joel, while \u201cDon\u2019t Know Nothing\u2019\u201ds new wave influences lends the track a dramatic gravitas that delivers with a hook-heavy chorus. And there was a well-positioned duet with country superstars Lady Antebellum: \u201cOut Of Goodbyes.\u201d
\nElsewhere, \u201cNever Gonna Leave This Bed\u201d enjoyed a decent airing when it was picked as the album\u2019s third single, securing strong support from adult-contemporary radio. The rockier title track, meanwhile, was chosen as a fourth single in some markets, but by now the band had turned its attention to writing a juggernaut song that would become their signature hit.
\nThat masterstroke was to be the floor-filling classic, \u201cMoves Like Jagger.\u201d Super-producers Johan Schuster (Shellback) and Benjamin Levin worked with Levine on a treatment that was something of a gamble for the band, who had never tried anything so obviously all-out pop. But bold actions sometimes conjure magic, and the decision to record the song with Levine\u2019s fellow judge on the US reality show The Voice was nothing short of inspired. The chemistry between Levine and Christina Aguilera had already played out obviously on screen and added a teasing narrative to a strong song. Aguilera\u2019s own musical career had proved erratic since her breakthrough with \u201cGenie In A Bottle,\u201d in 1999, and her recent album, Bionic, had underperformed, so the collaboration marked a timely opportunity for both parties to give their chart credentials a welcome boost.
\n\u201cMoves Like Jagger\u201d proved to be a runaway smash \u2013 the sort of record that most artists only taste once in their careers. On its June 21, 2011, release, it tore into the US Billboard Hot 100 at No.8 and reached No.1 that September on the back of striking radio airplay. It was a similar story across the globe: the song spent 10 phenomenal weeks at the top of the Australian charts and a staggering seven weeks at No.2 in the UK, becoming the second-best-seller of the year and massively outperforming many singles that had actually reached the top spot.
\nCertainly, the Jonas \u00c5kerlund video helped fuel \u201cMoves Like Jagger\u2019\u201ds enormous success. Enveloping the sexy, playful tone of the track, it was a homage to rock god Mick Jagger that managed to be reverential and yet super-cheeky at the same time. And the Rolling Stone\u2019s reaction? \u201cIt\u2019s very flattering,\u201d he told ABC Television soon after.
\nSupported by further additional tracks in different markets on a reissue program \u2013 including a nicely judged cover of Queen\u2019s \u201cCrazy Little Thing Called Love\u201d \u2013 Hands All Over\u2019s sales took a boost, eventually winning Platinum awards in most of the major markets, including the US and the UK. Another lengthy and successful worldwide tour also helped, with a string of dates supporting the buzz, including a slot at the legendary Rock In Rio festival.
\nWith its distinctive cover featuring a self-portrait of the then 19-year-old photographer Rosie Hardy, Hands All Over today stands as a solid collection of songs as strong as any that the band had released before, bolstered by a shrewd, sharp readjustment that restored their chart credibility \u2013 and then some.
\nAlongside his growing TV career, Levine was demonstrating he knew how to maintain Maroon 5\u2019s profile at a steady pitch, and, importantly, showcased a steely understanding of how to sharpen things up if required. The public had proved a step out of time with the group at Hands All Over\u2019s birth, but the quality of the songs ultimately cut through and the band\u2019s growing reputation as lively and reliable showmen was as sound as ever. Levine\u2019s premonition that the album may be the band\u2019s last proved to be very wide of the mark. In fact, things were just getting interesting\u2026
\nLooking for more? Discover 20 things you didn\u2019t know about Hands All Over.
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